Friday Favorites

As always, linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci HERE to share some of my favorites from this week

Before I get into the highlights, however, I wanted to ask you all to say a prayer for the victims and their families in Parkland Florida.  Another senseless tragedy...another school shooting...so very sad...scary...and leaving me with even more questions.

It makes me want to lead the charge in my hometown and add even more safety measures and precautions in our schools...our children should always feel safe...how was this man allowed back on campus?  How did he get into the school?  Especially since he was already deemed a threat...just senseless...all we can do is pray for answers...hope...and steps in the right direction.

Here are a few bright spots in my week....

Valentine Love


My loves were all around me...squishes my heart...Daddy spoiled us all with chocolates and cards and such...again squishy heart here....


and "Auntie Janie" spoiled the girls with stuffed animals and MORE chocolate....and yes Papa Bob did some spoiling too! :)

Clinique Lip Gloss

My new fave thanks to my friend Bethany.  It is the Marimekko Pop Splash Lip Gloss + Hydration
and I snagged it in Caramel Pop- perfect coffee color with a hint of sparkle!

Ash Wednesday

The beginning of the cleansing and repenting and remembering why we are all here.  This is my favorite time of the year in the church.

My Girls


Living through their eyes and their joy....

Trader Joe's Everything Bagel Sesame Seasoning

Oh my!  Thanks to my BFF Cass and some fellow bloggers, I snagged a bottle of this and know it will not last long.  I plan on using it on avocado toast...eggs...veggies...and Rob can't wait to smear his on a buttered croissant!

Nails

Is there anything cuter than a little girl getting her nails painted for the first time?  I took Pidge last night for her nails...she was so excited and so patient and felt so grown up.  I thought it was the perfect time to do it in preparation for the Daddy Daughter Dance "Dotty Dance" as we call it on our house.  She is going to have so much fun with Daddy on Sunday night!

That's a wrap!  Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

*Side Note, you  may notice my blog looks a little different.  Yesterday, all of a sudden, my design was missing..missing!  I contacted my blog design company and never heard back so I decided it is now time to engage a new designer.  This is a temporary template right now...not the best...but at least I can write and read my content.  Stay tuned for my new design*

Knock You Naked Brownies

Happy Valentine's Day My Loves!!!  Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope you have a day full of love...hearts...AND chocolate of course!

Are you a fan of The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond?

Well I am.  In fact, I have shared some of her recipes here in the past like her....

Watermelon Pico de Gallo HERE

Bruschetta HERE

Fig Prosciutto Pizza HERE  

 and 

Chicken Salad with Feta and Blueberries HERE 

Gosh, my mouth is watering just reading these....anyway....I thought I would share this delectable dessert recipe with you today in honor of Valentine's Day.  These gems were a BIG HIT at book club last week too and those ladies don't steer me wrong so make them...today!!

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• 1/3 cup Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)
• 1/2 cup Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• 1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

 Delish!

10 on the 10 Linkup (Favorite Memories with my Spouse)

I may be a day late to the linkup party, but I wanted to partake because how fun is it reminisce about your favorite memories with your spouse?

Linking up with Erin at Perfectly Port HERE

Here are 10 Favorite Memories with my Robby B

Dating


You know the magic?  The butterflies?  The laughs?  The learning about each other?  Yep, we did it all...I knew right away that he was my destiny and back then it made me cry for different and serious reasons.  Regardless, I refused to take the path of least resistance and followed my heart and my gut.  I wouldn't go back to these days but I think about different times during our dating years and smile at the way God brought us together.

Our Wedding


One of my favorite days of my life thus far...so so happy...the charming little ceremony at the chapel in our hometown and then the beautiful reception, outside, on the ocean in Rye....my happy place....I will never forget the way I felt that day...and the happiness to be Robby B's.

The Honeymoon


We honeymooned in Cancun Mexico at The Moon Palace.  We still can't wait to go back and take our kids.  It was beautiful and romantic and fun all at once....best service we have ever had...and so wonderful to just be alone.....

Family Vacations

Even before we were married, there were family vacations, because when I married Rob, I also inherited 3 stepkids.  Our trips were so fun...we created so many wonderful memories and I learned how to be a wife and a mother all at once- those were overwhelming and stressful years but our family vacations always stand out in my mind as some of our happiest times filled with laughs and memories to last a lifetime. This picture is from our epic trip to Martha's Vineyard- the trip where everything went wrong but we laughed the hardest and it is the trip that anyone in our family will tell you...was our favorite :)

Having Diana


Oww....our first little baby....as Rob always says, we took 300 pictures before we even left the hospital!  The first three weeks were bliss and then her acid reflux kicked in and life was hell for her first year.  What I will remember more than anything though is that when Rob was around, I was at peace. I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to Diana and I knew he knew what to do...he had been there before and even if I was a mess, he always seemed to have it together

Buying Our Dream Home Together


Yes we bought a starter home together too but this one was when we made our dreams come true and bought the house we loved in a neighborhood we loved AND were able to have an in-law for Rob's parents.  We were making our dreams come true and helping the fam all in one and we were so so excited!

Having Eva

and this little bundle of joy completed our family...she was so peaceful and just brought pure joy to us and to everyone she touched.  As we always say, she is our gift after years of much stress with the other kiddos...and then we laugh :)

 

Enjoying Zach's High School Football Career


We always say it...those years flew by for us...faster than our own high school and college years...it was just crazy...we enjoyed every moment of every game and tailgate and pasta dinner...together...and with the amazing friends we met...those years were so much fun and so very special to us. 

Fun with Friends

We love our town...our community...and the friends we have made here.  We know it takes a village and you will often find our friends pitching in to help each other...or just being there to make you laugh.  For me, since my family does not live nearby, my friends have become my extended family and Rob and I love spending quality time with our Windham peeps.  They have made us love this town even more!

Family Time/Holidays


I will wrap up our favorite memories with family time.  We have loved to host holidays over the years and bring our families together.  I am proud of the way we have managed our blended family and have tried to include our parents and family in so many things we do.  We know that family comes first and we make an effort to bring them together all the time.  We love that in our dream home, we are able to host holidays and get great usage out of our dining room...it makes me happy to feed people and Rob just loves watching me in my glory :)

 That's a wrap...blessed...that's what I am leaving you with...I feel blessed.....

Weekend Recap (Daddy's Home Edition!)

Daddy's Home- yeahhhhhh!!!!

I missed my Robbie B and so did the girls...so in our eyes...all is right with the world!

Here is what our weekend looked like.....

Friday Night

Ally came over to watch the girls so Mama could head to book club.  They had a ball and Eva was just a little wild with excitement!

 

While at book club, I loved Lisa's sangria...especially since "Brad" was hanging on my glass ;)

 

This was our first official book club get together and our first book was a winner...Night Road by Kristin Hannah...SO GOOD...friends...if you have kids in high school or even if you say someday I will..this is a good one....gives you some ideas on how to prepare for the tough things that come up...the characters seemed so real to me...heart wrenching and heartwarming all in one

 

Saturday

Daddy was on his way home so the girls and I AND Zach (because he loves coming to Diana's basketball games) jumped in the car, made a pit stop at Dunks and then we were on our way to Diana's basketball game at 8:30am.  I couldn't believe Zach jumped up so early and without having to be woken up- he really enjoys these games- love it!  Once we were in the gym, he couldn't resist helping Diana warm up and giving her some pointers!

It was a tied game and a very exciting one!  Diana was thrilled that she scored two baskets!

After dropping Zach at home, we met up with the Fournier Girls and took part in a fundraiser for Baby Finn who is the son of one of our directors at the dance studio and TTC Camp.  He battles liver disease and we were happy to do something to help him and his family.  The girls LOVED painting pottery!

and then we stopped for a quick lunch at Wasabi....girls will be girls!

We headed home after lunch to rest for a bit.

Then that night, Lindsay came to watch the girls and Jess and Joe picked Mama up for a fun night out with friends.  We had tickets to a comedy show and we stopped at La Caretta first for dinner...I was getting more excited by the minute because Daddy would be meeting me at the restaurant.  

Though we were a large and rowdy bunch, daddy was wiped....I snapped this pic because he refused to smile for me...BUT I was so thrilled he was home and smothered him with hugs and kisses (while being ridiculed by some besties)

Part of me took the pic for Lea because she confirmed that it was okay to make him come out after a day of travel because she does the same thing to Mike...yep I was feeling guilty but not until we enjoyed a chuckle first...Daddy was home and I was celebrating!

Sunday

 It was time for mass, grocery shopping and organizing for the week.  We also got Diana's Valentines done and I let the girls decorate Valentine cookies...they were none to pleased...then the kitchen looked like a pink wonderland...eek!

 In between the decorating, we enjoyed watching various Olympic events...Daddy was all about the hockey of course and even threw on his old jersey for the fun of it...hysterical!

Last night, Mama snuck out to grab a seltzer with Lea to catch up on our crazy lives and prepare for another crazy week of life!  What were you up to?